Intersectional Bias Fails Additivity Test

A multi‑study paper of ~5,000 participants tested whether implicit biases toward race, gender, class and age simply add up (or multiply) when people belong to multiple disadvantaged groups. The results show that implicit prejudices appear structured more like a single hierarchy than an additive stack of disadvantages, calling into question assumptions used in many intersectionality‑based policies and trainings. — If implicit bias is not additive across identities, diversity, equity and inclusion interventions, legal arguments about compounded discrimination, and public narratives about cumulative oppression may need substantial rethinking.